Review: \'The Turn of The Key\'

Ruth Ware's new psychological thriller 'The Turn of The Key' pays homage to Henry James' 1898 paranormal novel 'The Turn of the Screw'. Just like James, Ware's story is about a woman who takes up the job of a nanny at a luxurious home; but one of the kids dies and the nanny is now awaiting her trial for the murder.
The story begins with Rowan writing a series of letters from a prison to a renowned barrister. She is accused of murdering a child, but she claims to be innocent. And thus starts her story in the letters: Rowan Caine was searching for a job when she stumbled upon an advert, which seemed too good to be true. The vacancy was for a live-in nanny to take care of four kids and the salary was too generous. She visited the Heatherbrae House in the Scottish Highlands for a job interview and was surprised to notice that the luxurious home had all modern facilities, including a smart home app "Happy". The app allowed the Elincourts to survey all the rooms, talk through speakers, control the lights, and even the locks. With such a great opportunity in hand, Rowan dismissed some warning signs like-- four nannies leaving the job in the past 14 months. Rowan became nanny No. 5, but the kids weren't thrilled at all. In fact, one of the kids even warned her saying “the ghosts wouldn’t like it”.

Soon after taking up the job, the Elincourts left Rowan with kids to work on a project. Meanwhile, Rowan started experiences weird and spooky things in the house. A nasty housekeeper, a handyman, a poison garden, and a secret attic in the house add to the mysteries about the ancient house. And that's when tragedy struck her. It's for the readers to discover who exactly killed the child, if not her.

This eerie story will keep the readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page. If psychological thrillers excite you, then 'The Turn of The Key' is the perfect new novel to add to your reading list.


How critics view the book:

Alison Flood writes for The Guardian, "Ware tells a cracking tale… the house itself plays a hugely menacing part in proceedings."

Kirkus Review writes, "Truly terrifying! Ware perfects her ability to craft atmosphere and sustain tension with each novel."

Publishers Weekly writes, "Ware skillfully lays the bread crumbs to the novel’s satisfying conclusion without dropping too many hints or duping the reader."

Annalisa Quinn writes for the NPR, "With 'The Turn of the Key', Ruth Ware offers a clever and elegant update to Henry James's story one with less ambiguity but its own eerie potency."

Maureen Corrigan writes for The Washington Post, "Just when the story seems to be winding down, losing steam, Ware pulls out a stunner on the penultimate page that radically alters how we interpret everything that’s come before."